Since the amateur radio F-1 CubeSat was deployed from the International Space Station (ISS) on October 4 there have been no confirmed reception reports.

The attempts to recover the CubeSat are now focusing on reception of the backup UHF FM channel 437.485 MHz (+/-10 kHz Doppler shift). This FM beacon should transmit Morse Code for 20 seconds every 80 seconds during daylight.

The team would appreciate any reports of the beacon which can be sent to Thu Trong Vu XV9AA at thuvt@fpt.edu.vn

Thu Trong Vu XV9AA has provided this update on F-1:
Despite many efforts from the amateur radio community and the team ourselves in tracking F-1, we still haven’t heard from F-1 other than a few uncertain reports during the first few days. The team has been collecting information, analyzing different scenarios and experimenting with F-1’s backup unit in the laboratory. However communication with our American partner to trace back information about F-1 when it was in the States is limited due to ITAR. We hope to come up with an official report about the satellite status by November 4th, and this is not the final conclusion. Thank you for all your support and please continue to help us tracking F-1 if possible!

Nguyễn Trần Hoàng has plotted the descent of the F-1 CubeSat in the 3 weeks since its deployment from the International Space Station (ISS). He comments that the altitude of F-1 appears to be falling faster than the ISS.

So far the team has received several mixed reports about F-1 status, there is no definite conclusion yet. We will continue to collect information and analyze the situation, this afternoon we will hold a team meeting to discuss different situations that may happen with the little satellite up there. Please continue to help us listening for F-1 on 437.485 in daylight and 145.980 in the dark, thank you!

This video is about the amateur radio F-1 CubeSat that is due to be deployed from the International Space Station in September by Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide KE5DNI using the ISS Kibo robot arm.

The amateur radio F-1 CubeSat, built by the FSpace team of young engineers and students at the FPT University, is on its journey to the International Space Station (ISS). It is the first satellite to be built in Vietnam and the project has attracted much TV news coverage.

FSpace F-1 Amateur Radio CubeSat

F-1 carries a low-resolution C328 camera for an earth observation mission. The camera is capable of a maximum resolution of 640 by 480 pixels with 8 bit color. Images will be downloaded when commanded by the FSpace ground station.

There is a 3-axis magnetometer (developed by Angstrom Space Technology Center, Uppsala University, Sweden) and several temperature sensors.

The satellite’s callsign is XV1VN and the communications subsystem is built around two Yaesu VX-3R amateur radio handheld transceivers. One will operate on UHF the other on VHF.

Yaesu VX-3R1 transmits on 437.485 MHz FM, it has no battery so will operate on solar power only. As a result it will only be active when the satellite is in sunlight and when active the output power will vary between 0.1 and 0.3 watts depending on the amount of illumination. The antenna is a half-wave dipole. The FM beacon will send Morse code at 10 words per minute every 30 seconds (configurable). A sample of the beacon can be heard here.

VX-3R2 operates on 145.980 MHz FM and is connected to Lithium-Polymer (LiPo) batteries so will operate in both dark and sunlight. The power output is 1 watt into a half-wave dipole antenna. Using a TinyTrak4 packet radio modem it will send an AFSK 1200 bps AX.25 packet every 60 seconds (configurable).

F-1 was launched along with four other CubeSats in the HTV-3 cargo vessel on an H-IIB rocket from the Tanegashima Space Center, Japan, on July 21 at 02:06 UT and will arrive at the ISS on July 27.

F-1 in the JEM-Small Satellite Orbital Deployer (J-SSOD)

It will remain on the ISS until September when it will be deployed by Japanese astronaut and radio amateur Akihiko Hoshide KE5DNI using the ISS Kibo robot arm.

F-1 is mounted in a JEM-Small Satellite Orbital Deployer (J-SSOD) with the amateur radio TechEdSat and FITSat-1 CubeSats. In a second deployment pod are WeWish and a scientific 2U CubeSat Raiko. The CubeSats will be deployed into a 400 km orbit and should have a lifetime of 3 or 4 months before re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere and burning up.

In this video the team from FPT University sing the song “Vietnam’s orbit”. Artist/singer Trương Quý Hải has supported the F-1 CubeSat project from the beginning and composed the song just a few weeks before the launch. The accompanying music clip was completed just hours before the launch of F1. The team very much appreciated this.